Parameterized quality of service architecture in a network

Abstract

A communication system and method including the steps of receiving a first request to initiate a guaranteed quality of service flow in a network, broadcasting a second request from a Network Coordinator to a plurality of nodes connected to the network and receiving a first response to the second request from at least one ingress node. The method further includes receiving a second response to the second request from at least one egress node indicating whether the at least one egress node has available resources to receive the guaranteed quality of service flow and allocating resources for the guaranteed quality of service flow if the at least one ingress node has available resources to transmit, and the at least one egress node has available resources to receive, the guaranteed quality of service flow.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A communication method implemented in a Network Coordinator (NC) node of a communication network of a premises, the method comprising:
 broadcasting to a plurality of nodes of the network, a request for a guaranteed quality of service flow in the network from a source node to at least one egress node, the plurality of nodes of the network to which the NC node broadcasts the request including at least the source node and the at least one egress node; 
 receiving a first response to the request from the source node, wherein the source node is the point of origin for the purposes of the guaranteed quality of service flow for data to be communicated within the guaranteed quality of service flow, the first response indicating whether the source node has available resources to support the guaranteed quality of service flow; 
 receiving a second response to the request from the at least one egress node indicating whether the at least one egress node has available resources to support the guaranteed quality of service flow; and 
 if the source node and the at least one egress node have available resources to support the guaranteed quality of service flow, then allocating resources for the guaranteed quality of service flow; 
 if the source node and the at least one egress node do not have available resources to support the guaranteed quality of service flow, then:
 denying the guaranteed quality of service flow; and 
 if the guaranteed quality of service flow is denied based on bandwidth-related reasons, then determining a maximum data rate that would have resulted in a successful request for a guaranteed quality of service flow, and transmitting a message comprising information describing the maximum data rate that would have resulted in a successful request for a guaranteed quality of service flow. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The communication method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving from an entry node of the network a Submit message, wherein the request is broadcast from the Network Coordinator node as a consequence of the received Submit message,
 wherein the Submit message comprises information identifying the source node, and information identifying a data rate and packet size of the requested guaranteed quality of service flow. 
 
     
     
       3. The communication method of  claim 1 , wherein the network of a premises is a network of a home. 
     
     
       4. The communication method of  claim 3 , wherein the network of a home is a coaxial cable-based network, in which the NC node schedules all traffic for all other nodes of the network. 
     
     
       5. The communication method of  claim 1 , wherein the first response comprises information indicating the source node's cost associated with admitting the flow, and the second response does not comprise information indicating the at least one egress node's cost associated with admitting the flow. 
     
     
       6. The communication method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the received first response comprises first information indicating a peak data rate that the source node can commit to the requested guaranteed quality of service flow; and 
 the method comprises determining whether there are sufficient resources to admit the flow based, at least in part, on the first information. 
 
     
     
       7. The communication method of  claim 6 , wherein:
 the received first response comprises second information indicating the source node's cost of supporting the requested guaranteed quality of service flow; and 
 the method comprises determining whether there are sufficient resources to admit the flow based, at least in part, on the second information. 
 
     
     
       8. The communication method of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the received second response comprises third information indicating a peak data rate that the egress node can commit to the requested guaranteed quality of service flow; 
 the received second response comprises fourth information indicating the egress node's cost of supporting the requested guaranteed quality of service flow; and 
 the method comprises determining whether there are sufficient resources to admit the flow based, at least in part, on the third and fourth information. 
 
     
     
       9. The communication method of claim,  8 , wherein the second response comprises an information field for a code indicating why the egress node is unable to fulfill the request for the guaranteed quality of service flow. 
     
     
       10. The communication method of  claim 1 , comprising if the source node and the at least one egress node have available resources to support the guaranteed quality of service flow, then transmitting at least one request message indicating that the requested guaranteed quality of service flow is admitted. 
     
     
       11. The communication method of  claim 10 , wherein the message, comprising information describing the maximum data rate that would have resulted in a successful request for a guaranteed quality of service flow, additionally comprises a code indicating that the request for the guaranteed quality of service flow was denied based on bandwidth-related reasons. 
     
     
       12. The communication method of  claim 11 , comprising at the source node and the egress node, if the at least one message transmitted by the NC node indicating that the requested guaranteed quality of service flow is admitted is received, then:
 allocating resources necessary to support the guaranteed quality of service flow; and 
 communicating a response message to the NC node indicating that the necessary resources have been allocated. 
 
     
     
       13. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium encoded with program code, wherein when the program code is executed by one or more processors of a Network Coordinator (NC) node of a communication network of a premises, the NC node performs a communication method comprising:
 broadcasting to a plurality of nodes of the network, a request for a guaranteed quality of service flow in the network from a source node to at least one egress node, the plurality of nodes of the network to which the NC node broadcasts the request including at least the source node and the at least one egress node; 
 receiving a first response to the request from the source node, wherein the source node is the point of origin for the purposes of the guaranteed quality of service flow for data to be communicated within the guaranteed quality of service flow, the first response indicating whether the source node has available resources to support the guaranteed quality of service flow directly to the at least one egress node; 
 receiving a second response to the request from the at least one egress node indicating whether the at least one egress node has available resources to support the guaranteed quality of service flow; and 
 if the source node and the one or more egress node have available resources to support the guaranteed quality of service flow, then allocating resources for the guaranteed quality of service flow 
 if the source node and the one or more egress nodes do not have available resources to support the guaranteed quality of service flow, then:
 denying the guaranteed quality of service flow; and 
 if the guaranteed quality of service flow is denied based on bandwidth-related reasons, then determining a maximum data rate that would have resulted in a successful request for a guaranteed quality of service flow, and transmitting a message comprising information describing the maximum data rate that would have resulted in a successful request for a guaranteed quality of service flow. 
 
 
     
     
       14. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of  claim 13 , the method further comprising receiving from an entry node of the network a Submit message, wherein the request is broadcast from the Network Coordinator node as a consequence of the received Submit message,
 wherein the Submit message comprises information identifying the source node, and information identifying a data rate and packet size of the requested guaranteed quality of service flow. 
 
     
     
       15. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein the network of a premises is a network of a home. 
     
     
       16. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein:
 the received first response comprises first information indicating a peak data rate that the source node can commit to the requested guaranteed quality of service flow; and 
 the method comprises determining whether there are sufficient resources to admit the flow based, at least in part, on the first information. 
 
     
     
       17. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the received first response comprises second information indicating the source node's cost of supporting the requested guaranteed quality of service flow; and 
 the method comprises determining whether there are sufficient resources to admit the flow based, at least in part, on the second information. 
 
     
     
       18. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein the first response comprises information indicating the source node's cost associated with admitting the flow, and the second response does not comprise information indicating the at least one egress node's cost associated with admitting the flow. 
     
     
       19. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein the method comprises, if the source node and the at least one egress node have available resources to support the guaranteed quality of service flow, then transmitting at least one request message indicating that the requested guaranteed quality of service flow is admitted. 
     
     
       20. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of  claim 19 , wherein the message, comprising information describing the maximum data rate that would have resulted in a successful request for a guaranteed quality of service flow, additionally comprises a code indicating that the request for the guaranteed quality of service flow was denied based on bandwidth-related reasons. 
     
     
       21. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of  claim 20 , the method comprising at the source node and the egress node, if the at least one message transmitted by the NC node indicating that the requested guaranteed quality of service flow is admitted is received, then:
 allocating resources necessary to support the guaranteed quality of service flow; and 
 communicating a response message to the NC node indicating that the necessary resources have been allocated. 
 
     
     
       22. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein the network of a premises is a coaxial cable-based network of a home, in which the NC node schedules all traffic for all other nodes of the network. 
     
     
       23. A system comprising:
 a Network Coordinator (NC) node of a communication network of a premises, the Network Coordinator operative to broadcast to a plurality of nodes of the network a request for a guaranteed quality of service flow in the network; 
 a source node of the network, wherein the source node is the point of origin for the purposes of the guaranteed quality of service flow for data to be communicated within the guaranteed quality of service flow, the source node operative to transmit a first response to the NC node, the first response indicating whether the source node has available resources to support the guaranteed quality of service flow; 
 at least one egress node of the network, the at least one egress node operative to transmit a second response to the Network Coordinator, the second response indicating whether the at least one egress node has available resources to support the guaranteed quality of service flow from the source node; 
 wherein the Network Coordinator is further operative to:
 if the source node and the one or more egress nodes do not have available resources to support the guaranteed quality of service flow, then at the NC node, deny the guaranteed quality of service flow; and 
 if the guaranteed quality of service flow is denied based on bandwidth-related reasons, then at the NC node, determine a maximum data rate that would have resulted in a successful request for a guaranteed quality of service flow, and transmit a message comprising information describing the maximum data rate that would have resulted in a successful request for a guaranteed quality of service flow; and 
 allocate resources for the guaranteed quality of service flow if the source node has available resources to transmit, and the at least one egress node has available resources to receive, the quality of service flow. 
 
 
     
     
       24. The system of  claim 23 , wherein the Network Coordinator is further configured to broadcast the request as a consequence of receiving a Submit message from an entry node of the network,
 wherein the Submit message comprises information identifying the source node, and information identifying a data rate and packet size of the requested guaranteed quality of service flow.